I Guess I'll Dance With You
by satinfairytails
Summary: Formerly called "It's My Melody." Sakura and Tomoyo are graduating from Seijou High and rooming together at Tokyo University. But what happens when the high strung clarinetist Sakura butts heads with laid-back trumpet-player Syaoran Li? And what happens when the lovely Tomoyo Daidouji is caught between two equally alluring, but totally different men?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura or anything else by CLAMP.

OKAY, I know I've rewritten this chapter three times already. Thanks to those who've stuck around for my clumsy entrance into the world of CCS fan fiction! I swear, this is my last time fixing this chapter- and this time, I have an actual storyline and details figured out, haha. Let me know what you think! :)

-SFairyT

* * *

**Spring, Senior Year Seijou High School Ladies Restroom, 2nd floor**

"Alright, we're almost done! Close your mouth," Tomoyo Daidouji instructed. She gently slid in the last hairpin into her friend's auburn updo and spritzed a little hairspray to tame the fly-aways.

But Sakura obviously wasn't paying attention, and started hacking up a lung to get rid of the foul taste. "Tomoyo!" she turned and whined, her large green eyes tearing up from the fumes.

"I told you to close your mouth!" Tomoyo reprimanded, pulling some of her friend's auburn locks to frame her face. She clasped her hands together in joy. "You look so kawaii, Sakura-chan! You're going to look amazing tonight," she squealed, already imagining the way the stage lights would play off her friend's coppery locks and emerald eyes.

Sakura sweat-dropped at her friend's dreamy far-off expression. "We should probably get going. Hiiragizawa-sensei might have an aneurysm if I show up late to our last concert _ever. _I'm pretty sure he was actually aiming for my head yesterday!" She cringed as she remembered crashing into a cymbal after ducking to avoid being stabbed in the face by the crazy conductor's baton.

Tonight was the spring concert for Seijou High School's Premiere Orchestra, and it was always a big deal for the tiny town of Tomoeda. The people of Tomoeda were very proud of the award-winning orchestra, and concerts were always black-tie affairs.

Not that the musicians could wear anything but black— house rules.

Tomoyo had pulled Sakura into the women's bathroom on the second floor of the high school so she could do her friend's hair and makeup— a tradition that was quickly established in their eight-year friendship.

"Hiiragizawa-sensei isn't so bad as you make him out to be," Tomoyo clucked, shaking her head gently.

"Well, you're one to talk," Sakura grumbled. "I'm not the one with the huge crush on him," she hrmphed.

Tomoyo blushed. "It's not my fault that you have a chronic over-sleeping problem! Can you blame him for being a little mad that you always run into morning rehearsals late like a maniac?"

"It's not that late. It was like…a minute," her friend sulked. "I don't think that justifies throwing a chair at my face," she shuddered, a flashback of what happened last week.

They really needed to get going. Sakura stood up, and promptly fell back down. "HOEE! You made my dress too tight!" she gasped, her eyes bugging out. "I can't breathe! I can't even stand up!" she complained.

Tomoyo had taken it upon herself to make a few…minor… alterations to the black dresses they had been issued for performances. They were jet black with long sweeping skirts and velvet bodices. How could she resist altering the dresses to flatter Sakura's natural curves a little more? Was that a such a crime? She looked fantastic—what's a little oxygen, right?

"Oh, you're fine!" Tomoyo snapped, checking the mirror one last time to check her make-up. She tied the ribbon on the back of her own dress into a perfect bow, patted her sleek french twist, and smiled at her reflection. Her luminous violet eyes smiled back.

She glanced at Sakura, who was inhaling shallow breathes like a flopping fish out of water, and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

_My work, _Tomoyo sniffed, _is duly unappreciated. _

oOo

Sakura fumbled around the dark backstage of the concert hall, trying to assemble her clarinet and not trip over the multitude of instrument cases haphazardly tossed around the floor.

_Oh, Kami-sama, Hiiragizawa is going to kill me! _she cursed inwardly, wincing as the toe of her three-inch black high heel caught on the edge of a cello case. Sakura fished around for her wooden reed case and picked a reed up from the interior glass surface, sticking it in her mouth while pushing the clarinet joints together.

After nearly a head-on collision with a trombone slide and plenty of embarrassed "—'scuse me, pardon me, coming through!"s and close call involving a triangle beater, Sakura collapsed in her seat. She let out a sigh of relief— her butt had made contact with the seat just as the strict blue-eyed conductor called out her name for attendance.

"Kinomoto, Sakura!" he squinted through his wire-rimmed glasses.

"Present!" she yelled, a little too loudly.

The second chair clarinet, Naoko Yanagisawa, giggled. "Nice of you to show ON TIME for once, right Tomoyo-chan?" she winked at the girl sitting on Sakura's other side.

Tomoyo patted her friend on the shoulder sympathetically as Sakura slumped in her seat in exasperation. She, of course, had gotten there ten minutes earlier, now sitting lady-like with ankles crossed and her freshly polished flute lying diagonally across her lap.

Tomoyo and Sakura, ever since dinky fifth grade band, were both principal players and well-liked by their peers. Somehow fate let them sit side-by-side in every ensemble they advanced to over the years; directors changed the seating arrangements to accommodate the two rising stars because of how they complimented each other's playing—Tomoyo could anticipate Sakura's crescendos and diminuendos while Sakura could anticipate her friend's changes in tonality. It was a little magical.

But they were seniors now, and the spring concert was the last one of the season. And even though they were both rooming together at Tokyo University in the fall, Tomoyo was pursuing fashion design while Sakura was studying clarinet performance.

This was the end of this road for Tomoyo, and she couldn't help but feel a little sad.

The house lights dimmed, and the chattering in the audience died with them. The intercom buzzed, and the a voice announced that flash photography was not allowed and asked that cell phones please be turned off for the duration of the concert.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the spring concert of Seijou High School's Premiere Orchestra. Please help us welcome to the stage conductor Dr. Eriol Hiiragizawa and the award-winning Premiere Orchestra!"

A smattering of applause filled the room as Eriol Hiiragizawa stepped across the polished hard-wood stage, his dress shoes making deliberate taps as he bowed to the audience and stepped onto the podium.

Whatever polite facial expression he had on his face during his bow was immediately replaced by an evil glint in his blue eyes as he turned around to face the students. A few of the first violins were shaking in their seats as his lips twisted into a maniacal smile, like a diabolical cheshire cat.

He was crazy. Eriol Hiiragizawa was a terrifying man to cross in rehearsal. He had no qualms about ripping into a student or (as Sakura was all _too_ aware of) throwing whatever was in his reach for misplaying or not paying attention. On numerous occasions his temper had induced crying jags and stress headaches so bad that they had to skip the next several days of school to recover.

Except for rehearsals. NO one dared to skip rehearsal. Legend has he snapped someone's violin in half with his bare hands after they missed practice because of a ruptured appendix.

But he was an interesting man, Tomoyo admitted. _And handsome. _She shook her head and internally scolded herself.

He was one of the youngest doctoral conductors to graduate from Tokyo University, and already had a notorious reputation before coming to Seijou High. He was tall, and exuded a certain grace in every one of his movements, just like a panther tracking its prey. And the way his navy blue eyes could strip you down to the core and see into your soul— usually to break a student with succinct, cruel words from his full lips. And his fiery passion for perfection made him all the more alluring. On occasion, he would whip off his glasses and slam them onto his stand to emphasize a point— and Tomoyo's heart would go all a-flutter.

Whether is was from fear or something else, she couldn't tell.

"Psst, Tomoyo!"

Tomoyo blinked out of her reverie. She hadn't noticed the velvet red curtains pull back, leaving the orchestra face to face with the audience.

She turned and saw Sakura holding out her hand, a warm, wistful smile on her face. "Ready? It's the last time."

Sakura's golden skin glowed under the sparkling stage lights, and she seemed to grow taller, like a flower stretching its leaves in the sun.

_This is where Sakura-chan belongs, on the stage, in the spotlight, _she admired.

Tomoyo took her hand and squeezed. "Ready."

And with a flourish of his pale hands, Hiiragizawa's baton came down.

oOo

After the concert, the crowd of families, friends, and students gathered in the foyer. Congratulations and hugs were given, and a flurry of photographs were taken by parents.

"Oi, kaijuu!" a dark-haired man called over the masses. Sakura turned from the group of girls she was talking to and saw her brother waving a bouquet of flowers at her. She dragged Tomoyo by the wrist and stomped over, a scowl on her face as she mumbled, "I'm not a kaijuu!" But she hugged her brother and squealed at the flowers. They were cherry blossoms, her favorite. "Are these for me?!"

"No, I bought them for myself," he replied dryly. But he looked pleased with himself.

Tomoyo watched the siblings with a half-smile on her face. Despite their constant bickering, it was obvious that they cared about each other a lot. It must be nice to have a brother, she thought, watching Touya mess up Sakura's hair affectionately.

Tomoyo lived alone with her mother, the every-busy Sonomi Daidouji, executive president of an expanding toy company. While that meant Tomoyo had more than enough pocket money to spend and a multitude of servants at her home, it did make for some lonely dinners and missed performances. But she didn't blame her mother for missing a concert or two— she had responsibilities, and that wasn't her mother's fault.

Still. Tomoyo was a teeny-_tiny_ bit jealous that Touya always came to every single one of Sakura's concerts. He always made the trip from his apartment in Tokyo to Tomoeda, never failing to show up. She and Sakura would join him at Tokyo University in the fall, where Touya was getting his masters degree in Architectural Design.

She was lost in thought, her eyes drifting to the double doors of the school. Her driver would be here to pick her up soon, and then she could take a long, hot, bubble bath and go to sleep.

She almost didn't notice the hand waving in front of her face. Tomoyo snapped out of her daze and blinked, looking up.

Touya held out a single purple lily towards her. "You didn't think I forgot you, did you?" a half-smile tugging at his lips.

Tomoyo flushed, but took the lily from his fingers. Its petals were soft and smooth, and the color matched her eyes. "Thank you," she murmured, smiling demurely. "It's beautiful."

Both of them stood in a comfortable silence, having retreated to a corner to avoid colliding with other people. They watched as Sakura made her way to each clusters of friends, hugging her fellow clarinetists and coming out of each embrace a little teary-eyed.

"Sakura seems sad to be graduating so soon," Touya observed. "She's put a lot of effort into the music department, and I don't think she wants to let it all go."

"I think she cares a little _too_ much about this orchestra," Tomoyo said slowly. "But I think the change will be good for her. She'll adjust well. She always does."

"And you?" Touya asked, turning towards her and crossing his arms. The arms on his black tuxedo jacket strained against his lean muscles. He towered over her, and for the first time, Tomoyo saw just how much he looked like his little sister.

But Touya was a man. And where Sakura-chan was pretty, he was handsome. Extremely handsome.

They were standing so close that Tomoyo was acutely aware of how big his hands were, how his eyes were dark brown, like coffee. And how he smelled good. Really good. Like warmth and musky brown sugar.

She was _too_ aware of his closeness. It was disconcerting suddenly _noticing_ all of these details about her best friend's older brother, and forced herself to look away.

"I guess I'm ready for some change," she said softly, still looking at the ground.

_What is wrong with me?_ Tomoyo smacked her head internally. _First Hiiragizawa-sensei, now Touya? Get a hold of yourself. _

He didn't reply. Tomoyo's violet eyes flickered up, and all of a sudden she was looking straight into Touya's warm coffee-colored gaze. They held eye contact for a beat too long, and Tomoyo felt her face turn pink.

Tomoyo's phone chirped, and she was shocked back into reality. She glanced at the phone and shifted uncomfortably.

"My driver is here," she said. "I'm going say bye to Sakura-chan. Thank you for the flower." She began to walk away. But she only got a few steps before Touya's rough, calloused hand grabbed her wrist.

Her violet eyes widened in surprised.

"You—" he cleared his throat, a faint flush on the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable as well. "You looked beautiful tonight, Daidouji," he finished in a low voice.

And then he walked away, leaving a gaping Tomoyo behind, who couldn't figure out why her heart was fluttering so fast in her chest.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or anything else by CLAMP!

This was formerly called It's My Melody, but I didn't have anything planned out when I first wrote it. Now I do, and I've rewritten the first two chapters so they should be better! (at least, I hope so :P) Let me know what you think!

-SFairyT

* * *

**Late August, ****Downtown Tokyo**

Sakura slyly scooted to the other side of the backseat of her brother's car and reached for the dark pink suitcase lying on its back. It had been sitting next to her during the five hour drive from her hometown of Tomoeda to Tokyo.

She started to unzip the side of it, stopping only to nervously glance at her father and Touya in the front. When she saw that they weren't paying attention, she slowly pulled the zipper a little farther and peeped inside. She silently applauded her stealthiness.

"We're almost there, just hold on for a little longer," she whispered reassuringly.

"Sakura? Who are you talking to?"

The girl quickly sat up, rezipping the suitcase and throwing herself back to her side of the car. She wore a guilty expression on her face. "No one! Just talking to, um…" she looked all around the backseat, realizing too late that there was no one in the backseat except for her, and _you-know-who._

"Just me! Yep, lil' ole' me! Just talking to myself!" Sakura babbled, forcing a fake smile. _Please don't ask questions, please don't ask questions, please…_

Fujitaka stared at his eighteen-year-old daughter, and slowly turned around to face the front.

"…is there something I should know?" he whispered out of the side of his mouth to Touya, who was driving the car. Touya had driven to Tomoeda to help Sakura move into her dorm.

He shrugged, his eyes narrowed in focus as he maneuvered through heavy traffic and dodged the occasional cyclist.

Sakura sighed in relief.

Her phone buzzed. _1 new message from Tomoyo Daidouji._

_Sakura-chan! Mother and I just got to the dorm, it's so kawaii! When are you getting here? -TD_

She typed back a reply. _Be there soon! -SK_

As soon as Sakura's thumb hit _send, _her suitcase rumbled and squeaked. Panicked, Sakura smacked the top of it and hissed, "_SHHH!" _

Touya and her father stared blankly at her through the rearview mirror. "Heh…" Sakura laughed awkwardly, sliding low in her seat.

oOo

_**Two hours later, Parking Lot**_

"I think that's the last of it," Fujitaka inspected the empty interior of the car. He smiled sadly, the corners of his light brown eyes crinkling as he bent down to hug his grown-up daughter.

Sakura kissed her loving father on the cheek. "Arigato, Otuu-san! I'll miss you. I'll call every week and make sure I brush my teeth and eat my vegetables and —"

Fujitaka just patted her on the head as she droned on and on and on... Maybe not _quite_ as grown-up.

"And I'll get to see you all the time, right Onii-chan?" Sakura punched her brother lightly on the shoulder.

Touya almost didn't notice because he was too busy glaring at all the freshmen boys that even glanced at his little sister. He was all too aware of all the horny freshmen boys expecting to get laid in college. He finished his soda and crushed the can with one hand, holding it out and dropping it in a threatening display. Two guys making calf eyes at Sakura pretty, athletic figure immediately turned pale.

"Kaijuu," Touya said, not breaking eye contact with the two frightened boys. "If you need anything, anything at all, call me and I swear I'll tear them apart from limb to—"

"Okay, Touya!" Fujitaka clapped. "That's enough." Fujitaka dragged his son away and pushed him into the drivers seat before he could finish. "I'll drop you off at your apartment. I'll call you when I get back to Tomoeda, Sakura! I love you!"

Touya started the car and rolled down window. "Tell Daidouji that I said hey," he said, sliding on dark sunglasses.

"Love you, Otuu-san! Drive safely!" Sakura beamed. She waved at them as they drove away till they were lost in the sea of Tokyo traffic.

She sighed, feeling very accomplished and satisfied with herself. She felt a little sad that she wouldn't see either of them until fall break, and spent a couple minutes contemplating how she would get anything done without her loving father and annoying brother.

Then Sakura blinked. _Oh shoot!_ She spun on her heels and sprinted back into the dorm.

oOo

**Room 3413 **

"Gomen, gomen, gomen!" Sakura wailed as she ripped her pink suitcase open and fished out a small wire rodent travel cage. Inside, you could see a tiny golden mouse with huge ears wheezing and gasping for fresh air.

She opened the wire top and gingerly lifted him up for closer inspection. The tiny mouse was (thankfully) alive, but looked a little worse for wear, his fur matted and messy from being knocked around.

Tomoyo was aghast. "Kero-chan?! Pets aren't allowed in the dorms- how did you get him past your dad and the RA? The poor thing!"

Sakura leaned against the cream wall of her side of the room and let out a sigh of relief. "Well, first of all," she recounted, ticking off her fingers, "I haven't seen the RA, but I got him past the check-in people and into the elevator. Then Kero started squeaking, so I had to shake him around a little to shut him up 'cause Onii-chan was in the elevator with me!"

Kero's eye twitched.

"And then some MORON knocked me over and dropped all his things, and I tripped and um..." her voice got real quiet.

"I may or may not have accidentally dropped Kero's cage on some his head," she looked down in guilt, tapping her pointer fingers together.

Kero's eye twitched again, and he fainted onto a soft bed of aspen shavings.

Tomoyo looked very impressed. "We've only been official college girls for about…" she glanced at her watch. "Two hours, and you've already picked up some hot little college boy? My little Sakura-chan is growing up so fast," she sniffed, wiping away an imaginary tear.

Sakura's green eyes shot a glare at Tomoyo, who was hanging up a string of lights across the ceiling. "He wasn't some 'little college boy'. He was rude and mean and didn't even "I'm sorry!" she ranted.

Tomoyo gave her a look.

"...okay, okay, okay. Maybe he was _slightly_ attractive." Sakura grumbled. "But he hurt Kero-chan! And that is unforgivable." Hmph.

"You head-butt me to the ground and you're concerned about a little rat?" an incredulous voice came from the open door.

A tall guy with unruly brown hair and amber eyes leaned lazily against the doorframe, smirking at the girls.

Well, not at Tomoyo. More like smirking at Sakura as her blood pressure rose significantly.

Sakura sent him an icy glare. "What do YOU want?" she sniped.

Tomoyo sweat-dropped, and elbowed Sakura's arm. "Ow! Tomoyo!" she hissed.

Tomoyo's violet eyes rolled towards the ceiling. Ugh, sometimes Sakura could be so _melodramatic_.

"Hello there!" Tomoyo gracefully jumped from her bed to the floor. "What can we help you with?" she asked, silently apologizing for her rude roommate.

"I'm Syaoran Li," he politely introduced himself to Tomoyo. "And you," he refocused on the scowling brunette, "Dropped your student ID during our _lovely_ little rendezvous earlier, Miss..." he squinted at the name on the card, "Sakura Kinomoto."

Sakura snatched her ID from his fingers. "Lovely, my butt," she muttered.

"I wholeheartedly agree" he nodded enthusiastically. "Yours is one of the nicer ones I've seen so far today."

Her green eyes narrowed as they met his amber ones. "Are you one of those perverts that my brother keeps telling me about?" she asked, curiously.

"Hey, you said it, not me," he held up both hands innocently.

Grrrrr.

"And I just stopped by to see what exactly was in that suitcase of yours— the one that you DROPPED ON MY HEAD? Jesus, woman, you could have killed me with something that heavy!"

Before Sakura could blink, the stranger was in her room inspecting the haphazard unpacked mess on her unmade bed. "What's this?" her clarinet case dangling from one of his fingers.

Sakura snatched her case back from his fingers. "Don't touch that! I'm sure your little perverted head was fine." Sakura felt her frustration rising. "Now can you puh-lease exit the premises?_" _she pointed at the open door.

"I can't."

She looked at him. "The door is right there. You've got two legs."

"I'm doing fire inspections," he informed her.

Sakura blinked. Fire inspections? But…he wasn't a fire-fighter.

I mean, he was certainly attractive enough to be a fire-fighter. What, with his brown espresso-colored irises with tiny gold flecks and long lean body—Sakura's eyes trailed from the sharp cheekbones and strong jawline to his lightly muscled tans arms to the way his dark denim jeans hugged his…_gulp._

Who does this guy think he is anyway, barging into HER room sprouting nonsense about some "fire inspection?" He doesn't even look like a fire- fighter—they're supposed to be big and muscly and…

Goddamn it, they're supposed to kind of look like Li.

And now all Sakura could think about Li dressed in firefighter red, the front of his uniform unbuttoned and billowing softly away from his tan, toned chest and hard abs…

NO, NO, NOPE! Not going any farther than that. Not that she didn't wanted to.

"…and I'm here to make sure that you didn't bring anything to campus that's going to risk blowing up your lovely little rear end." he explained.

Sakura just stared at him. "…don't firefighters carry hoses?"

"I'm the RA!" he threw his hands up into the air. Sakura then noticed the clipboard in his hand and the pen behind his ear.

Sakura opened her mouth in horror. Her eye started twitching and she stuck out her index finger in his. "YOU'RE the RA?!"

He nodded slowly, "According to this name tag I am." A small piece of paper hung by a blue lanyard around his neck.

_Syaoran Li_

_3rd floor Residential Advisor_

_TU Fine Arts Building_

Tomoyo watched her green eyes bulge out a little bit.

"Aww, is Miss Kinomoto sad to have to share cute little me with everybody else? Don't worry, I've got a special place in my heart for pretty trouble-makers like you," Syaoran winked, tapping the tip of Sakura's little nose.

"You...you...nergh...I...TOMOYO-CHAN!" Sakura wailed.

Tomoyo was watching this interaction with great interest but decided to intervene before her best friend's brain melted.

"Thank you so much for returning her student ID, Li-san," Tomoyo said sweetly. "But, if you'll excuse us, we still have some unpacking to do. Maybe you could do the fire inspection later?"

He saluted her. "No problem, Miss...?"

Tomoyo smiled. "Daidouji. Tomoyo Daidouji, fashion design."

"It's been a pleasure, Miss Daidouji," Syaoran made an exaggerated half-bow. Then he dropped his voice. "Please tell Miss Kinomoto her ID picture does not do her justice at all," he stage-whispered and sent a wink to Sakura, who gaped as he shut their door behind him.

_That big fat FLIRT! _

Sakura took a look at her ID and groaned. Unlucky her. The photographer didn't warn her in advance, and the picture came out a little cross-eyed.

Tomoyo peeked over her shoulder and clucked sympathetically. "Well, sweetie. At least he was cute, right?" she nudged, suppressing a smile. She had only seen her friend riled up this badly a few times before.

"UGH!" Sakura fumed. "At least for poor Kero's sake, I hope we never have to see that insufferable son of a—" she was cut off by a rustling noise.

A folded note under the door.

oOo

_Miss Kinomoto,_

_As a responsible RA, I regret to inform you that your beloved "Kero-chan" isn't allowed in this residence hall. _

_But for the sake of your evident visual impairment, and because your ass really is the best I've seen today…_

_I'll let it slide for now. ;) _

_-SL (a.k.a your "slightly attractive" next door neighbor)_

oOo

"…that PERVERT."

A pause.

"WAIT, HE LIVES NEXT DOOR?!"

Tomoyo suppressed a giggle. College, she decided, was going to be very interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS or anything else made by CLAMP.

Hi there! So...in regards to this chapter...

I'm a freshmen in college right now, and I'm currently transferring school AND changing my major from molecular/cellular bio to music education. Therefore, I don't know that much about education in the fashion industry, so to all of you fashion majors out there, please don't hate me for my ignorance! I'm doing my best D: Anyways.

It's also a shorter chapter this time around, sorry!

Let me know what you think!

**Room 3413**

Sunlight crept its way through the windows onto the pale face of a slumbering girl. She threw an arm over her eyes and pulled the covers over her head, resettling into a deep sleep. "Mmmrphmgh," she murmured happily into the plush pillow she hugged in her arms.

This was so nice. She could get used to this. Someone should have told her that college would be this relaxing. She and Tomoyo had finished settling into their room late last night- which consisted a lot of Sakura pushing and pulling around the furniture, then rearranging it when Tomoyo decided on a different layout, then more grunting and dragging when she changed her mind _again. _

"Tomoyo...I thought you were a _fashion_ designer, not an interior designer?" Sakura huffed and puffed, struggling to push a dresser across the room. Geesh, maybe she should start hitting the gym again.

"I like to think of myself of a... connoisseur of all design aesthetics," Tomoyo explained smugly, adjusting the violet curtains so they hung just so. Which, Sakura couldn't help but rolling her eyes, was the only heavy lifting Tomoyo did all day. The things she did for her best friend. Thankfully the rest of the unpacking and reorganizing had gone fairly quickly, they both wanted to go to bed early for registration the next morning.

...registration the next morning.

Sakura's green eyes flew open and she sat up in her bed. She looked at the alarm clock sitting on her nightstand. The blinking red lights read 8:55.

Registration started at nine.

"TOMOYO-CHAN!"

"What?" her best friend walked into their cozy space, clad in a fuchsia bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her wet hair. "Sakura, why aren't you up yet? You're going to be late!" Tomoyo looked at her friend, exasperated.

Sakura was already up, a whirlwind as she moved faster than Tomoyo's eyes could follow- pulling drawers open, slamming the closet door, bouncing on one foot trying to pull her socks on, tripping over a spinny chair. "HOEE!" Sakura wailed, clutching at a throbbing stubbed toe.

"Sakura-chan, calm dow-"

"I CAN'T BE LATE FOR REGISTRATION! WHAT IF I DON'T GET THE CLASSES I NEED!" she fumbled around for her toothbrush and toothpaste.

Sakura barely heard Tomoyo's protesting, "Sakura, slow down, you haven't brushed your ha-" as she whipped the door open open and ran blindly towards the girl's bathroom at the end of the hall. But she only got two or three steps before she ran straight into something hard and fell on her butt.

"Oww," Sakura whimpered, rubbing her head. She looked up at what she ran into.

...or rather, WHO she ran into.

"Is this going to be a regular occurrence, _Miss Kinomoto_?" Syaoran looked down at her, an amused look on his face.

"That hurt!" she staggered to her feet, ignoring the hand he held out for her. And then she realized with horror that he was naked, save the towel wrapped around his waist. Sakura couldn't take her eyes off every glorious inch of his tan, toned chest and felt herself blushing hard.

"Why are you..what...I mean..." she stammered, all traces of coherent thought gone. "P-put on some clothes, Li!" she finally spat out, covering her eyes.

"Awww, but Miss Kinomoto seems to..." he leaned in, his warm breath tickling her cheek, "...like what she sees," he whispered.

Was that as seductive as she thought it was? Sakura felt her face grow hot. "I do _not_!" she emphasized, keeping her hand over her eyes.

"Then why are you covering your eyes, Saku-chan?" he teased.

"Because..." she struggled for a reason. Ohhh, why did fate give her such a hot infuriating neighbor? She could have settled for nice, average looking one, even an ugly one would have been great! But NO, out of all the RAs she could have gotten, she had to get SYAORAN LI.

"...what do you think you're doing, walking around half-naked scaring poor girls like me?"

"Scaring poor girls?" he raised an eyebrow. "Au contraire, Miss Kinomoto. Am I really scaring you?" he grinned, stepping forward into her personal space. Sakura peeked out behind her fingers and saw that they were nose to nose. Her face flared.

His long, nimble finger stroked her cheek. She was mesmerized. "Am I scaring you now?" he murmured in a low, chuckling voice. He smelled like pine.

She was so overwhelmed by his clean, forestry, _man-smell_. _Note to self: stay away from trees and nature-type of things._

"I...I..." How did he manage to reduce her into a stuttering idiot _ALREADY_? They just met like, YESTERDAY!

"And Saku-chan?" his deep voice continued in her ear?"

"...yes?" she replied, a dazed look her in her eye as she looked up at his golden, amber eyes.

"...you dropped your toothbrush."

Toothbrush? Her foggy mind tried to process what he was saying.

Toothbrush...toothpaste...room...morning...registration...late.

LATE. OH SHIT.

"HOE!" Sakura yelled, as the realization hit. Fumbling for her toothbrush and pushing past Syaoran, she dashed towards the bathroom. "I'M GONNA BE LATE!"

"Nice bed-head, Kinomoto!" he called over his shoulder, grinning at her subsequent frustrated shriek. _What a girl. _

oOo

**The Noodle Factory, 11 am**

Sakura scanned down the list of her newly printed schedule.

_Music History, Applied Clarinet Lessons, Wind Symphony, Aural Skills... _

Not bad, Sakura nodded. At least she got into all the classes required for her major. She'd have to audition for a chair in Wind Symphony, though. Skipping down to the last line, her shoulder slumped.

_...and Introduction to Ballroom Dance._

Tomoyo, of course, had been ecstatic. They had met up for lunch at a small noodle place about a block away from their building.

"Ballroom Dance?!" she squealed, stars popping out of her violet eyes. "I'll get to design all of your dresses, Sakura-chan! Oh, there's so much sketching and work to be down, I'll start right now! You're going to look so kawaii, no one's going to take their eyes off you as you take center stage...oh, Sakura, I might faint!"

Sakura just stabbed at her plate of pasta in resignation. "I wasn't THAT late. And I can't believe that all of the other electives filled up that quickly! I mean, ball-room dancing? I've never danced before, Tomoyo-chan, I'm going to make a fool out of myself!" she said, worried.

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Sakura-chan. I mean, you were the cheerleading captain for two years! That's kind of close to dancing, right?" Tomoyo suggested thoughtfully.

Sakura put her fork down, suddenly not hungry anymore. "I don't know...what if I'm horrible at it? What if someone laughs at me?" Her eyebrows knit together in anxiety.

Now Tomoyo understood what the real problem was. "Sakura-chan... " she prodded gently, "Is this about what happened at homecoming sophomore year?"

Her friend nodded solemnly.

"What happened that night wasn't your fault. I think it's time that you face your fears and give dancing another chance. After all..." Tomoyo helpfully pointed out, "No one knows you here. Except me and Touya. College is all about fresh starts, nee?"

Sakura's face brightened just a little. "You're right! Arigato, Tomoyo-chan! And I can't be the only one with almost no dance experience taking that class, right? I mean, it's INTRODUCTION to ballroom dance."

"Right! And I think you'll be better at it than you expect. And I'll make sure you look fabulous! Oooh, I bet you'd look great in THAT dress with THAT fabric..." Tomoyo's eyes glazed over, imaging the fabric swatches she'd go through later.

Sakura sweat-dropped. "Errr...well, what about your classes?"

"I got in all mine. In fact, I already have an assignment for my Design Studio seminar! I'm supposed to find a local club or organization and redesign their uniforms. It's kind of like volunteering, design, and business experience all rolled up into one project," Tomoyo explained, sipping her glass of water.

"Wow. That's a big project for so early in the semester," Sakura commented.

"It is, but I'm excited! This give me a lot of time to figure out who I want to design for. That reminds me! You'll be my model for my costume design class, right?" Tomoyo held Sakura's hand in both of hers and looked pleadingly into her friend's face.

She bit her lip. "But...won't you have a lot of other people to model for you?" Sakura weakly argued. "I mean...I don't know if I'll have the time..."

Tomoyo's violet eyes started to well up in tears. "But Sakura-chan!" she cried. "You've been my inspiration for years! I can't just have anybody model my clothes! It would be such a travesty without you, please say you'll do it!"

Sakura already knew this was a lost battle- she could never say no to her best friend. "Okay, okay, fine! I'll do it," she threw her hands up and gave in.

Tomoyo face lit up. "Oh good! Because I have this dress with all these sequins for you try on later, and you'll look great in it, I promise!"

One green eye twitched. _Not the sequins! _She shivered in fear.

If _this_ was the college experience that onii-chan has talked about so much, then she has yet to be impressed.

**Ooh, what happened at Sakura's sophomore homecoming dance? Let me know what you think to find out! :)**

**-SFairyT**


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! I'm so excited that so many people are reading this fic! Up until now it's mostly been about Sakura, but don't worry, folks! Tomoyo will come into more of the picture soon! This is also a longer chapter to make up for the previous shorter one.

I also know that this was a super fast update, but I couldn't stop thinking about this story and the possibilities! I also had a bit of inspiration hit me today, and I felt like pouring my heart out there.

As for my favorite CCS male character, I'd say I HAVE to go with Touya. Idk why, but he makes me swoon a little bit.

As always, lemme know what you think! I'd love to get your opinion of this chapter, it makes me motivated to write more :)

**Thursday, 10 am**

Kami-sama, how could her day have gone downhill this quickly?

I mean, the first part of her week had gone perfectly!— after investing in three more alarm clocks to ensure she'd get to class on time. And they usually did the job— the first to wake her roommate up an hour earlier than she had to be up, by the time the second one went off, Tomoyo would be standing at the foot of Sakura's bed, silently staring at Sakura's sleeping form with death-rays. And if the heat of Tomoyo's perturbed glare wasn't enough to wake Sakura from her death-like slumber, a whispered threat of bedazzling all of Sakura's clothes usually did the trick.

Despite her little over-sleeping problem, Sakura was actually meticulously organized with her schoolwork. Her notebooks were organized by subject, color, and day of the week in her pink messenger bag, and her mechanical pencils with pristine, untouched eraser tops were all filled with lead. Her polished, freshly repadded clarinet was strapped over her back.

Look at me, she nodded in approval as she gave herself a quick once-over in the full length mirror. Today was the placement audition for Wind Symphony, and she was wearing black fitted slacks, a black cardigan, and black flats. She'd gotten up extra early and curled her long, auburn hair so the tresses cascaded down her back. Little pink cherry blossom earnings dangled from her petite ears. I'm a real college girl, taking a real college audition!

The audition music was posted online over the summer, and Sakura spent a good portion of her vacation time analyzing and practicing the orchestral excerpts. Most of them she had played in Hiiragizawa's orchestra, so they weren't too bad, but it didn't make her anxiety go away.

And her anxiety rocketed sky-high when she stepped outside her building and was blasted by an insane heat wave. Immediately she felt sticky with sweat and just _gross. _Great, just fly-freaking-_fantastic._ Thank goodness she put on extra deodorant today, she snuck a whiff of her armpit. _Let's see, _she pulled out the informational sheet out of her pocket.

_Wind Symphony Placement Audition_

_Clarinets: 11:00 am, Tsubasa Great Hall_

Tsubasa Great Hall? Must be in Tsubasa Auditorium, she concluded. Sakura had passed by that building on her way to several of her other classes. Unfortunately, it was about a ten minute walk from where she was right now.

She tried to calm her nerves as she walked through the crowded streets of downtown Tokyo. _Dum, de dum, de dum, this is going to be FINE. Look, you've taken plenty of auditions in the past, this one is no different! And besides, you're playing that clarinet solo from Bernstein's Overture to Candide. And that Bernstein guy was crazy! I mean, look at his hair! I have better hair than that. I should be fine, _she reassured herself.

_Except this is college, _her nerves cried. _This is where it really matters, this is make it or break it. _

About ten minutes later, Sakura stood at the foot of the steps of Tsubasa Hall. It was a large, domed building, with white granite steps leading up to its heavy glass double doors. She gulped, not liking how imposing the gargoyles looked at her from their platform on the sides of the steps.

That's strange. The hall was completely dark and empty, not a person in sight. She looked to her left and right- a tumbleweed could have blown through the place. The crickets chirped. Where is everybody? Sakura felt completely out of place standing there alone.

She rechecked the sheet and her watch. This can't be right, she frowned. They've got to be here somewhere. Except she saw no one, and this building was kind of creeping her out, these dark shadows moving around the place. But she walked around the place, up the stairs to the balcony to backstage. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a frumpy janitor mopping the floor.

"Excuse me! This is Tsubasa Great Hall, right?" she asked the older man, who just scowled at her.

"Whaddya doing here, girl? There are no classes in here today, now git on out of here!" he glared and pointed at the doors with his dirty mop.

"But...I have an audition!" Sakura protested, showing him the piece of paper, "It's supposed to be here!"

"No auditions here, girl, now git! Yer messing up my floors," he waved her off dismissively. He threw her out and locked the doors behind him.

Sakura stared at the man as he turned his jingly keyring through the locks and resumed mopping. She felt the panic rise in her throat and began banging on the doors, crying out, "Wait! I have an audition here, please let me in!" He ignored her desperate pleas.

WHAT IS GOING ON?!

Sakura whirled around, taking deep calming breaths like they taught her in that one yoga class she took with Tomoyo. In...out...in...out. Don't panic yet, you still have time. That's why you woke up early," she reminded herself.

Better call in the big guns. She fumbled for her phone and hit number one on speed dial. "_This is Touya Kinomoto. If this is the kaijuu, I'll kick their asses. If this is a boy who wants/has/thinks about touching my kaijuu, I have snipers watching your every move. Put your hands slowly on your head. To the rest of you, leave a message."_

Okay, Touya is out. Tomoyo is probably in class, so no. Otuu-san is too far away and he'll just worry... She looked at her phone and groaned. Fifteen minutes. All she wanted was to have a half-way decent audition. Sakura plopped down on one of the steps and tried to think of what to do.

_You're a big girl. Pull yourself together. _But her emotions got the best of her, and she stifled a sob. Great. Now she's lost, crying AND sweating at the same time, and about to be late. She felt her black clothes sticking to her skin and tied her hair back into a sloppy pony tail. Damn this hot weather.

Ten minutes. She got up and asked people passing by if they've heard of Tsubasa Great Hall, but they all just looked at her like she had a few screws loose and pointed towards the auditorium behind her.

Sakura's head hung low. Maybe she should just go back to the dorm. If I'm going to miss my audition, she reasoned, I might as well do it in the cool air conditioning.

Her feet trudged along the sidewalk, as the sun blazed overhead.

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and would have fallen face first into the abrasive pavement had it not been for a pair of cool, pale hands grabbing her shoulders.

"Daijoubu, Sakura-chan?" she heard a familiar, comforting voice ask. She looked up at the young, grey-haired man with glasses that magnified his warm grey eyes.

"Yukito-san!" her eyes lit up as she saw her former childhood crush and brother's best friend. "What are you doing here?"

"I was on my way back from the supermarket- Touya's been so busy recently that he hasn't been able to buy food for our apartment." Then he frowned, noticing Sakura's tear-stained face. "Is everything okay?"

Sakura suddenly felt shy, and a little stupid. "I may or may not be a little lost. And late," she mumbled into her shirt, looking down abashedly feeling like a twelve year old girl again.

"Where are you going?"

"Some place called Tsubasa Great Hall. Only, it's not in Tsubasa Auditorium, and no one seems to know where this is," her eyes welled up again.

Yukito took a glance at the sheet. He chuckled. "These university donors. Don't worry, Sakura, it's not your fault you're lost. The Great Hall is actually in the performing arts center- who knows what was going through the minds of those old men when they were naming the buildings."

"I don't know where that is, either!" Sakura bit her lip. "And I'm going to be late."

"I've got some time, I'll walk you over. And besides," he winked and her conspiratorially. "Your onii-chan wouldn't forgive me if I left you wandering around campus lost for hours, right?"

Even though Sakura had gotten over her little crush years ago, she felt her cheeks grow warm at his wink.

The pair chatted amicably as they walked across campus. Yukito Tsukishiro lived with Touya, and he was a senior studying archeology. He reminded Sakura of her father- both had large wire rimmed glasses and compassionate smiles. That was probably why Sakura had been infatuated with him since the second grade, until she slowly grew out of it. Still, he felt like part of the Kinomoto family since he was around the house so often.

"And this is it!" They stopped in front of a narrow black door in an alleyway.

"...THIS is Tsubasa GREAT Hall?" Sakura said, incredulously, noting the absolute sketchiness of location.

Yukito chuckled. "This is the stage entrance. I figured it would be faster than going through the main entrance," he said, opening the door and stepping inside the darkness of backstage. "And besides, I think one of my good friends is working at these auditions... Syaoran, my man!"

SYAORAN?!

Sakura watched in abject horror as Yukito fist bumped and clasped the all-too-familiar brown-haired man on the back.

WHAT. NO. ABORT.

Unfortunately for her, she couldn't run for the door fast enough. She had only taken two steps when she heard Yukito ask, "...have you met my friend, Sakura Kinomoto?"

Sakura froze. And turned. And put on a fake, cheesy smile. "Why, hello there Li." she smiled through gritted teeth.

The two men stared at her. Then Syaoran's face broke into a grin. "Miss Kinomoto, funny seeing you here," he smirked.

"Oh, you two have met!" Yukito looked pleased with himself.

Poor Yukito. Poor, unsuspecting, Yukito. He couldn't possibly know what fiend his "friend" is.

"Alright, then Sakura-chan, I'll leave you in the capable hands of this guy," he pointed. "I'll see you later!"

"Wait, no, Yukito! Don't go!" Sakura pleaded, grasping at his sleeve. But with a smile, a wave, and a "I'll tell your onii-chan you said hi!," he was out the door. Damn it.

She turned around, and looked at the man sheepishly. Syaoran raised one eyebrow at her.

Sigh. There's no avoiding it now. She approached his table. "And what can I do for you, Miss Kinomoto?" he smiled pleasantly at her, reclining back in his chair and resting his feet on the table.

"I have an audition scheduled at eleven," she answered as politely as she could.

He pulled the ever-present pen out from behind his ear and tapped it twice on the clipboard. "Name?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sakura Kinomoto."

"Year?"

"Freshman."

"Instument?"

"Clarinet."

"Figures," he muttered, scribbling onto his clipboard.

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?!" Sakura asked, annoyed.

"I pegged you as a clarinet. You know. Since you're..." Syaoran waved his hand around, as if that warranted an answer.

"Since I'm what?"

"High strung. Uptight," he replied smugly, his tongue smacking the "t" hard.

"I am NOT uptight!" she spat back hotly, slamming both of her hands on the table and leaning in to get in his face. She realized too late that her reply suggested otherwise.

He leaned forward, a sarcastic expression on his face. "Then why are you all dressed up for a _blind_ audition?"

Sakura blinked. What? "Blind...audition?" she repeated, his words not quite registrating.

He nodded slowly.

"BLIND audition? Meaning, the judges can't see you. You're the first person I've seen that's dressed up to stand behind a curtain," he chuckled, scribbling more notes.

Why, oh why, oh WHY did she have to run into him on TODAY, of all days!? She was in the middle of sputtering something back indignantly when Syaoran stood up and swept her to a door on their right. "This the warm-up room over there. All of the other clarinet players are in there. I'll come get you when it's your turn." And then he gently shoved her into the room and shut the door behind him.

Sakura slowly turned to face the rest of the room. Six pairs of eyes stared back at her. "Heh...heh..." Sakura rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

A girl with brown braided pigtails stepped forward and held out her hand. "Hi! I'm Chiharu Mihara. Junior. What's your name?" her light brown eyes crinkled.

Sakura shook her hand. "Hi, Mihara-san! I'm Sakura Kinomoto. Freshman." She looked at all the other people in the room, who had resumed warming up, their fingers flying over the keys in arpeggios and runs.

"Please, call me Chiharu! Can I call you Sakura-chan?" Sakura nodded, feeling a little intimidated by everyone else in the room.

"Don't worry about the rest of them," Chiharu waved her hands dismissively. "They're all tight-wads. I've got to finish warming up too, but good luck!"

Sakura nodded as Syaoran poked his head in and yelled, "Mihara, you're up!"

"You too, Chiharu!"

Sakura retreated to a corner and set up shop, soaking her read in an empty yellow pill container filled with water and pushing the joints of her clarinet together. She felt really self-conscious warming up, especially since she knew absolutely no one here. _Stop it! _She shook her head. _You got all the way here. Don't mess this up now!"_

Even though Sakura usually didn't have a problem playing in front of other people, she felt curious eyes on her and felt distinctly uncomfortable. She turned around and faced the wall as she went through her warm up routine. First, chromatic long tones. Then tonguing exercises. Then smears. Those were her favorites, taking one note and bending it up and down to other notes.

She heard Syaoran open and shut the door many times over the next half hour and announce unfamiliar names. "Aiko Nakamuru!" The number of people dwindled from seven to four, to just Sakura as she impatiently waited for her turn. She hated being the last to audition, because that usually meant judges were already bored of hearing the same thing over and over again.

Aiko was taking a decidedly long time, Sakura observed dryly. And she was getting bored. She had already warmed up and ran through the audition materials twice. Absent-mindly, she began smearing notes again, eventually working up the chops to trill on a low G, and pulled up her fingers quickly one by one, smearing from clarion register D to C.

Clap. Clap. Clap. She whipped her head around and saw a smirking Syaoran clapping his hands slowly. "Very nice. Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue."

"I'm surprised you know it," she said back, dryly.

To her surprise, he didn't say anything back. He looked at her with a smile and an indescribable expression on his face, as if he were contemplating something.

He just stared at her for a few moments before the corner of his mouth pulled upwards. "Come on. It's your turn."

She followed him backstage and stood behind a large red velvet curtain. "Audition number seven!" Syaoran called out into the darkness and walked back backstage, leaving Sakura alone on the brightly lit stage.

Sakura set her music on the stand and took a deep breath. _Here goes._ She started with the slow excerpt, part of a Mozart concerto and marveled at how well the stage rang her dark tonal sound around the room. Then she moved on the the Bernstein, pulling out every emotion she could out of the sickening-sweet melody. When she finished her audition, the room was dead silent.

She had no idea what the etiquette was for blind auditions, and just stood there unsure of what to do. "Psst!" she heard from the right. Syaoran motioned for her to come off stage. He followed her as she went back into the warm-up room and starting disassembling her equipment.

"Not bad, Miss Kinomoto. A little flat on that high Eb, but otherwise not bad."

She felt a little irritated at his critiques. She flipped the latches of her case down and picked up her bag. "Why thank you so much, kind sir," she retorted back sarcastically. He really was too much. "Now if you don't mind..." she gestured towards his large frame blocking the door. "I have somewhere to be."

"Hot date?" he teased.

"You wish," she grumbled.

"Actually, I do."

Sakura spun around on her tracks and stared at the man, who was looking at her, his brown eyes were dead serious.

"...what are you saying, Li?" Sakura licked her lips nervously. Nervous? Where did that come from?

He just looked at her, eyebrows knitted together in that weird expression. Then his face relaxed. "Nothing," he lightly replied. And just like that, he walked past her, the small smirk back on his handsome face.

Relieved as she was, Sakura couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. And that freaked her out a little bit.

oOo

**Balcony, 5:30 pm**

Tomoyo was out on the balcony, scrutinizing one of her costume sketches. Not dramatic enough, she decided. She was in the middle of crumpling up her drawings when her phone buzzed. She looked at the caller ID: _Touya Kinomoto_

Touya? Her heart fluttered a little faster at seeing the name of Sakura's older brother. They really haven't spoken since the spring concert-sure, they've seen each other plenty since because of Sakura, but it was like they had an unspoken rule in front of his little sister.

Curiously, she answered. "Moshi-moshi?" she said breathlessly.

"Daidouji?" Touya's low tenor hummed in her ear. "Is Sakura with you? She's not picking up."

Tomoyo stood up and glanced at one of her roommate's many alarm clocks. "I think she's in class right now. Is something wrong?"

"Well, I was in a meeting and missed her call earlier. I was going see if she wanted to get some take-out," he explained smoothly.

"Oh!" Tomoyo replied, her voice a little more cheerful than she intended. _Of course he wouldn't be calling for you, baka._ "Well, I'll let her know when she gets back."

"That squirt." he sighed. "Actually, Daidouji, I'm already outside. I'm also out of quarters for this parking meter and I'm starving. Wanna come with?"

Biting her lip, Tomoyo looked at the spread of sketches, colored pencils, and scraps of fabric on the balcony table. She really did have a lot of work to do.

_But it's not like you're getting much done right now, _her inner voice reasoned out, acknowledging the pile of crumpled up sketches at her feet.

_And it's not everyday that Touya asks you to dinner. _

"Sure," she heard herself saying. Then she cleared her throat. "I mean...why not? I'll be down in five."

Touya's rich voice chuckled. "Glad to hear that, Daidouji." A soft click.

Tomoyo stared at her phone. _Oh my..._

She texted Sakura quickly.

_Touya swung by looking for you. I had to run an errand, I'll be back soon! _

_-TD_

Tomoyo bit her lip. For reasons unbeknownst to herself, she didn't feel quite comfortable telling Sakura about...this _thing_. I'm not going to make it a bigger deal than it is, she thought resolutely.

And then she looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a light blue t-shirt over a black jumper dress that was covered in glitter from shedding fabric swatches she'd been going through earlier. Her wavy raven locks fell down her back, a little tangled. She winced as she peeked in the mirror.

_And you call yourself a fashion designer. You look like a kid, _she scoffed at herself. But she didn't have time to change into something else, so she resigned to run her fingers through her hair, breaking up the tangles and grabbing her red cross-body purse and sunglasses.

It's just take-out, she reminded herself. An INFORMAL take-out dinner that he was supposed to have with his LITTLE SISTER.

_But he asked you instead. _

"It's just dinner. He's just Sakura's mean old onii-chan. And I'm just Sakura's best friend. That's all. Nothing changed," she told herself.

But if he really was just Sakura's older brother, why were the butterflies in her stomach fluttering so fast?

oOo

**7:30 pm**

Sakura turned her key in the lock. "Tomoyo-chan?"

The light was off, and the balcony's sliding glass door was still open. Sakura went to shut the door, but saw Tomoyo's sketches and crumpled paper balls strewn everywhere. That's weird, Sakura frowned. Whatever her friend had to go do must have been really important- Tomoyo was usually a lot neater than this.

Oh well, she shrugged, picking up the rejected sketches and tossing them into the blue recycling bin. The evening breeze felt nice on Sakura's skin- and she quickly took of her cardigan and slacks, replacing them with a dark green cami and black athletic shorts. She dropped her backpack down on the balcony and took out her music history textbook, but wasn't quite ready to get started on the required readings.

The sky overhead was turning from streaky sunset orange to a rich cerulean blue, and the first silvery stars of the night appeared, twinkling softly from millions of miles away. Sakura looked up at them wistfully.

"Hi, Okaa-sama!" she said to the stars, sitting crossed legged on the floor of the balcony floor. "I miss you a lot. And I know onii-chan and otuu-san do too. But don't worry about us! We've got each other, and I've got Tomoyo-chan! We're all really happy. And college is kind of fun!" she winced as she said this.

"Okay, okay, I lied. College is hard."

Nadeshiko Amamiya was a beautiful opera singer who married Fujitaka Kinomoto at sixteen years old, who was at the time a high school history professor. Her elitist family had strongly opposed the marriage, but they were in love. She had passed away when Sakura was three, and Sakura could barely remember anything about her. Her father always put up a photograph of her at the breakfast table. Even fifteen years after her passing, Fujitaka was still very much in love with her.

"Okaa-sama, does it ever get any easier?" she whispered up at the sky, her emerald eyes shining. "Some SIGN that things will get better would be nice."

Sakura crossed her fingers and waited. Nothing. She sighed, opening up her textbook and flipping around pages absent-mindedly.

Next door, a glass door slid open and Syaoran stepped out onto his own balcony. Oh great, she groaned, burying her head in her arms. Just what I need.

"Kinomoto?" As she lifted her head up to glare at the intruder of her privacy, the overhead lights switched on and Syaoran's body was bathed in a heavenly glow. He looked like an golden archangel, too handsome for his own damn good.

"Kinomoto? What are you doing out here?" he repeated, amused.

Sakura blinked. I_ really hope this is mom's idea of a joke._

oOo

There was a reason that Tomoyo almost always wore heels everywhere- she was only 5'3'' and needed the few extra inches boost her up to everyone else's height.

And standing next to Touya Kinomoto, she never felt shorter in her life. And this was just standing in line at the restaurant.

"We'll take an order of honey walnut shrimp, kung pao chicken, and three orders of vegetable lo mein," he said to the cashier, who ran his order up.

"Anything else for you, sir?"

"Daidouji?" he looked at Tomoyo, who shook her head quickly. His eyes were impenetrable through his opaque aviators.

"Two orders of noodles?" she whispered out of the side of her mouth as the cashier swiped Touya's credit card.

"Shh, I'm starving. Yuki ate all my food at home- I'm a growing boy!" he patted his non-existent belly playfully as our raven-haired heroine snorted.

Tomoyo slipped two pairs of chopsticks into the plastic bag carrying their bounty and followed the man down the block and into a park. "Where are we going?" she asked, there shorter legs trying to keep up with his long strides.

"I was thinking somewhere with fresh air. The architecture building isn't exactly bursting with it, and i've been running to meetings all day," he slipped his sunglasses off, scanning the park for picnic tables. There were no tables in sight, but there was a small children's playground close by.

"How about here?" Tomoyo walked over and stepped onto a roundabout. "This seems as good as a table as any!" she declared, yelping a little as she lost her balance at the sudden weight shift.

"Careful there, Daidouji, or I'm going to have to carry you all the way to the hospital," Touya warned her playfully, stretching his long, lean legs out before him as he sat in one of the divided sections of the roundabout.

Tomoyo, who had regained her balance since then, was careful to sit a few inches away from him so there was no contact between the two at all. He handed her a box of noodles and a pair of chopsticks while she opened up the box of shrimp and chicken.

"This looks great," Tomoyo commented, a little wary of the growing silence. "Thanks for letting me tag along today."

"It's my pleasure, Daidouji," he gallantly replied. "Besides, it's nice to get to talk to someone who isn't wearing a tie or pushing deadlines on me. It's quite a change talking to a real artist for a change," he winked.

Tomoyo flushed, turning back to her shrimp. Shrimp is safe. "I think your work counts as art, too. You design buildings, and I design clothing. Aren't they similar lines of work?"

"It would be if I got to design the buildings I want to. Most of my clients put utility over aesthetics, which is understandable. But it's also a little tedious, designing the same type of structure over and over again," Touya reflected, his eyes focusing on something far away as he chewed his food.

She didn't know what to say in response to that, so she let a comfortable silence grow between the two. They watched the kids on the playground swing on the swings and climb the jungle gym and ate their food, stuffing the garbage into the plastic bag.

He broke the silence first. "I'm surprised Sonomi let you pursue fashion. She seemed pretty keen on you studying business."

Tomoyo thought about how to answer. Tapping her chopsticks lightly against the white take-out box, she replied, "She was really hesitant about the whole thing. But she's more understanding than people let on. If I didn't go into fashion and at least give it a shot, I would live the rest of my life in regret. Better to fail on my own terms, than to never try at all, right?"

"Wise words, Daidouji," he grinned, and Tomoyo liked how he lit up a little boy, in contrast to his perpetual serious demeanor. "Are you sure that you and Sakura the same age?"

"I'm sure," Tomoyo stuck out her tongue. "You know, this reminds me of the one at Penguin Park back home in Tomoeda," she ran her fingers lightly over the metal plane of the roundabout. "Sakura and I always loved spinning around on that old thing."

"You mean like this?" Touya's face grinned devilishly, and before Tomoyo could say anything he was up, gripping two of the dividers between his strong hands and rotating the platform that she was sitting on.

"Touya!" she squealed, gripping the the closest divider with white knuckles.

"Hold on, Daidouji!" And he ran faster and faster around the circle, and his momentum made the roundabout spin so fast that everything whizzed past in a blur. She felt Touya leap onto the platform and somehow slide his way back next to her, not letting go of the divider.

There something exhilarating about losing all that control, not knowing when your fingers might accidentally let go of the bars and fling you out into oblivion. Tomoyo closed her eyes and reveled in the freedom, the cool night breeze whipping through her hair. She didn't know what Touya was doing, but she was aware that his presence was so close.

And as the roundabout slowed its rotation down, she laid down flat against the platform, not caring if she got dirt on her dress. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement and she was breathing heavily. Her thick hair trailed behind, her body outlining the radius of the circle. She tried to get her bearings again. "That was fun," she said, still breathing heavily.

"It was," Touya agreed, and to her surprise, he laid down next to her, their two heads next to each other with their legs pointed away from one another. He was panting from running so fast.

The sun had gone down, and they both looked up at the cerulean sky, at the twinkling stars that peeked out from behind billowing clouds. Their heavy breathing slowed. Tomoyo's quick high slowly came down, and she suddenly felt at peace.

"You know," Touya quietly said, pointing up at the night sky. "When mom died, I couldn't figure out how to tell Sakura that she wasn't coming back."

Tomoyo listened, reveling in how his low voice gave her goosebumps. She shivered.

"How do you explain to a three-year-old that her mother isn't ever coming back? So I told her that mom was traveling to the stars because she was bright enough to become one. And that if you look hard enough, she'll always be there in the sky, watching over us."

Tomoyo didn't say anything. She knew that the best thing she could do was listen. Her own father had left before Tomoyo was born, and she understood that hollow feeling of abandonment, though it wasn't Nadeshiko's fault. And she supposed her father had his own reasons too, but it hurt knowing that those reasons were bigger and somehow better than staying with his daughter.

"Daidouji, look up," she felt Touya's finger poke her side.

Twinkling above her face with the stars were little flickering golden lights- lightening bugs, she realized. She sat slowly up and watched them in awe, their little bodies dancing around in the air in an ancient waltz, the orbs of lighting coming in and out of focus. It was beautiful.

She heard Touya chuckle beside her and saw him sit up, his two hands cupped together. "Hold out your hands, Daidouji."

Their hands touched as he passed a solitary lightening bug from his hands to hers, and electricity zapped through Tomoyo's fingers and in that moment, she never felt more alive. She raised her violet eyes and saw his dark gaze through his impossibly long eyelashes, the yellow light of the firefly dancing in his eyes. He didn't let go of her hands, and they stayed like that, silently sharing the beautiful light of fireflies.

And for that moment, it didn't matter that she was just Sakura's friend's and he was her older brother. In that moment, it was just Tomoyo and the man who might mean something more.

**I hope that was enough to satisfy you romantics out there. That is literally my dream scene. **

**\- SFairyT**


End file.
